Topic: New Ideas for Existing Franchises

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Nintendo's been getting quite a bit of criticism lately that their games are rehashing. And it definitely feels like they're struggling to come up with new ideas for games and gameplay mechanics, especially with their platformers. So what would you do to make an existing franchise feel more fresh again?

Here's some of my ideas:

General:

A lot of Nintendo games feel very generic and traditional nowadays, more so than they ever were. They come out with these generic sequels with little to no plot, no new gameplay mechanics (most of what they add ending up a gimmick that only appears every so often in the game), the same kind of settings as every other game in the series. Even some of the names reflect this to a degree, having vague names like "New Super Mario Bros." and "Donkey Kong Country Returns" give the impression that it's another Mario or Donkey Kong game. Look, I know that Nintendo is a business and they need to keep coming up with new games for their IPs and all, but when you release games like this it feels pretty lazy and money grubby, like they're not even trying to disguise that they're trying to make money off it. Even more so when you talk a big game about creating new and creative experiences, it makes them look foolish. What happened to the days when we got games like Sunshine and Galaxy, where they took a completely new concept or theme and designed the game around them? We need more of those types of games again.

Mario:

First of all, they should bring back the ability for enemies to steal powerups from the NSMB Beta. This could put quite an interesting twist on the game, and not just because you have to be quick to pick up your powerup. It could completely change the way you use and think about powerups altogether. Sure, enemies could do this to spoil your fun and give you an extra challenge, but what if you could use this to your advantage? What if there are certain enemies and obstacles that can only be defeated by another enemy? Also, they could implement some risk/reward scenarios. For instance, I had an idea for a Green Star gimmick called Green Powerups, where sometimes you can obtain a variant of a powerup that glows green to indicate that it contains a Green Star. If you pick it up yourself, you can use the powerup but you lose the Green Star. In order to get the Green Star you need to let an enemy pick it up and then defeat them when they're powered up. So now you have to think about how you use your powerups. Should I use this powerup myself or let an enemy take it?

Also, I think they should do more with the overworld maps in the game. 3D World made it so you can freely explore them to find secrets. I think they need to take this a step further and make them full blown hubs that you can fully play through (i.e. you can play them like actual levels). Keep the paths through each world to make it easy to navigate, but add extra terrain and secrets off the beaten path for people that want to explore.

Lastly, I'd like to see them experiment a bit more with parkour and move chaining to make the platforming a bit more dynamic. One thing I liked about the collectathon games was that you could chain moves together and had combo moves like the Triple Jump which added more depth to the platforming. Combine that with a more parkour oriented approach. To a degree they've been doing this already with wall jumping and climbing, but they can go a bit further with that. They can add some more terrain gimmicks like swinging on poles and tightropes to give the game more of an acrobatic feel.

Donkey Kong:

First of all, let's see some actual 3D gameplay instead of Tropical Freeze's 2.5D which adds absolutely nothing. The next game should be a 3D Land/3D World style Donkey Kong where you can move around and play in 3D, but you still progress to the goal instead of collecting Gold Bananas like in 64. Second, I think DK should move in more of a beat em up/hack and slash/whatever you want to call it direction like God of War or the Werehog (but with more of a platforming emphasis than those two). The IP actually fits this genre to a T, DK himself is a brawler, the series has introduced several mechanics that fit this genre like throwing and using weapons.

Also, can we have more animal buddies than just Rambi again? I'd love to play as Squawks or Squitter again (I think they'd have to replace Enguarde though, since Tropical Freeze's swimming mechanics make him a bit redundant. Maybe some kind of jellyfish animal buddy that gives you infinite air and can use electricity?).

Yoshi:

Yoshi's New Island had the right idea in introducing new types of eggs. Unfortunately, they've mainly amounted to gimmicks. One thing I'd like to do is take the large eggs from the original Yoshi's Island (the ones you get from swallowing those fat Shy Guys) and change them so that instead of falling off the screen after they fall, they just sit there so you can use them as platforms. As for new ideas for eggs, maybe they could do spiky eggs or some type of throwable Tap Tap (the spiky invincible enemy) themed item.

Kirby:

Kirby hasn't had a new main game on Wii U yet, so there's still time for it to do something cool with the Gamepad. Luckily I have just such an idea. Expand on the belly mechanic from Squeak Squad and combine it with Super Abilities and Hypernova so that you can use belly items to interact with the environment and solve puzzles.

Also, I'd like to see a 3D Kirby game at some point. Maybe in Great Cave Offensive/Amazing Mirror style Metroidvania? 3D Land/3D World style would also work though.